Pentagon

Definitions: Pentagon

Pentagon

Noun

1. A government building with five sides that serves as the headquarters of the United States Department of Defense.

2. The United States military establishment.

3. A five-sided polygon.

Date "Pentagon" was first used: 1570. (references)

Etymology: Pentagon \Pen"ta*gon\, noun. [expression of Greek origin; (see Penta-) gwni`a angle: compare to Latin pentagonium, French pentagone.]. (Websters 1913)

Domain	Definitions
Mining	A polygon having five sides. (references)
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

This is an article about the geometrical shape pentagon. See The Pentagon for an article about the building in Washington, DC.

In geometry, a pentagon is a five-sided polygon. Just like the pentagram it hides the golden mean in a multitude of ways.

The process of drawing a pentagon was described by Euclid in Elements c:a 500 B.C.

Draw a horizontal line with a circle the size of your desired pentagon that has its center on this line.
Put your compasses' needle where the circles' circumference crosses the horizontal line, and draw a half-circle through the center of your first circle, crossing the circumference of the first circle in two places. Draw a vertical line through the points where the half-circle crosses the first circle. This line will pass through a point we call (a).
Open your compasses so that you can, when placing the needle in the two intersections between the horizontal line and the first circle, draw a small cross above and below the horizontal line, outside the first circle, with one line of the cross from each point. If you join these crosses you will obtain a line perpendicular to the horizontal line, also passing through the center of the first circle. The point where this line crosses the circumference of the first circle on the top, we call (b). This is the first corner of the pentagon.
Put the compasses' needle in (a) and drawing a circle segment passing through (b) and down through the horizontal line, obtaining a point on this line we call (c).
Put the needle in (b) and pass a circle segment through (c) and the first circle. These points on the first circle are the second and third corners of the pentagon.
Without extending the compasses, put its needle in the second and third corners, and draw circle segments passing through the first circle to find the two remaining corners.
Join the corners and you have a pentagon. By joining the corners by two more lines you obtain a pentagram.

See also: Pentagon (disambiguation)

Context	Synonyms within Context (source: adapted from Roget's Thesaurus).
Angularity	Triangle, trigon, wedge; rectangle, square, lozenge, diamond; rhomb, rhombus; quadrangle, quadrilateral; parallelogram; quadrature; polygon, pentagon, hexagon, heptagon, octagon, oxygon, decagon.
Source: adapted from Roget's Thesaurus.

Crosswords: Pentagon

English words defined with "Pentagon": Penta-, pentacle, pentagonal, Pentagonally, pentagram, Pentangle, pentangular ♦ Regular pentagon. (references)

Specialty definitions using "Pentagon": Ada ♦ bevel cut. (references)

Non-English Usage: "Pentagon" is also a word in the following languages with English translations in parentheses.

Czech (pentagon), German (pentagon), Hungarian (pentagon), Romanian (pentagon), Serbo-Croatian (pentagon), Swedish (pentagon), Turkish (pentagon).

Domain	Usage
Screenplays	I used to work at the Pentagon, but now I help get your chicken on. (Undercover Brother; writing credit: Eran Merav) Everyone cheats a little bit look at the Pentagon! (Lethal Weapon 2; writing credit: Shane Black;) May be even the Pentagon. (Get Smart; writing credit: Shinichi Sekizawa; Futaro Yamada)
Lyrics	The monkeys in the pentagon are gonna cook our goose (Happy Birthday; performing artist: Weird Al Yankovic)
Movie/TV Titles	Pentagon U.S.A. (1953) The Pentagon Papers (2003) Pentagon (1997)
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

Domain	Title
Books	Presidents' Secret Wars: CIA and Pentagon Covert Operations from World War II Through the Persian Gulf (Elephant Paperbacks) (reference) The Complete Idiot's Guide to the Pentagon (reference) The Pentagon Papers: as published by the New York times (reference) The Pentagon Wars: Reformers Challenge the Old Guard (reference) When the Pentagon Was for Sale: Inside America's Biggest Defense Scandal (reference) (more book examples)

Periodicals	Inside The Pentagon (reference) Pentagon (reference) (more periodical examples)

Theater & Movies	National Geographic Video - Inside the Pentagon (reference) The Pentagon Wars (reference) (more DVD examples; more video examples)

Music	Pentagon (reference) (more classical music examples; more popular music examples)

High Tech	Pentagon Multimedia Case (reference) (more camera examples; more video game examples; more computer examples; more electronic examples; more software examples)

Consumer Goods	SOG Specialty Knives PE14 Pentagon Elite Folding Knife (reference) (more baby examples; more wireless phone examples; more garden examples; more kitchen examples; more tool examples)
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

Thumbnail	Description & Credit	Thumbnail	Description & Credit
	Maj. Terrence Leary (left) helps Maj. Russell Fellers adjust the seat before taking off on the next 10-mile leg of a 40-mile mountain bike relay during the all-service Wilderness Challenge 2000. Leary and Fellers were members of the Air Force Pentagon tea.		09/29/00 - WASHINGTON --Lt. Col. Ken, and Majs. Karl and Kevin Rozelsky, meet at the Pentagon to be pinned-on by the Air Force chief of staff. The brothers -- all Air Force Academy graduates -- followed different career paths, but have opted to make the A.
	"A female demonstrator offers a flower to military police on guard at the Pentagon during an anti-Vietnam demonstration." By S.Sgt. Albert R. Simpson, Arlington, Virginia, October 21, 1967.Credit: National Archives and Records Administration, Records of the Office of the Chief Signal Officer.		At his desk in the Pentagon Building, 10 November 1949. Photographed by Master Sergeant Wingfield, U.S. Army.Credit: NAVY.
	Signs the Memorandum of Understanding transferring USS Bisbee (PF-46) to the Columbian Government, in his Pentagon office, 16 November 1951. In the center is Columbian Ambassador Don Dipriano Restrepo-Jaramillo. Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Inter-American Affairs Thomas G. Mann is at right. Bisbee served in the Columbian Navy as Capitan Tono.Credit: NAVY.		Christmas comes to the Pentagon.Credit: Library of Congress.
	Army National Guard Red Cross helicopter landing near the Pentagon (Arlington, Va.) while smoke billows in the background from area damaged by crash of hijacked American Airlines flight 77 during the September 11th terrorist attack.Credit: Library of Congress.		U.S. Army sargeant working at the Pentagon, Arlington, Va., during disaster recovery operations following the September 11th terrorist attack.Credit: Library of Congress.
	International Nickel Co. at the Pentagon. Close-up of gutter showing drain cover at the Pentagon.Credit: Library of Congress.		War Department. Pentagon, aerial view I.Credit: Library of Congress.
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

Subject	Topic	Quote
Business		The weapons may be new production that the Pentagon contracts with the manufacturer, or they may be used stock. (references)
Human Rights	Philippines	The Pentagon Gang, which reportedly also has kidnaped local civilians, has made no pretense of having a political or religious agenda. (references)
Travel	Egypt	For international information regarding the DOD policy on specific carriers, travelers may contact the Pentagon at telephone (703) 697-7288. (references)
	Costa Rica	For information regarding the DOD policy on specific carriers, travelers may contact the Pentagon at (703) 697-7288. (references)
Source: compiled by the editor from ICON Group International, Inc.; see credits.

Speaker	Phrase(s)
Al Hunt	Mr. Daniels, let's talk for just a moment about the defense budget. Candidate Bush promised a top-to-bottom Pentagon review, said we're going to invest in new technologies and get rid of some of the Clinton defense programs.
Chris Dodd	It's a simple enough question. The American people are going to pay for this. They'd like to have some idea. Don't tell me for a single second that the people at the Pentagon don't have some estimates here.
Geoffrey Hoon	On the contrary, we work very closely together. The level of cooperation that exists, both between our military and, indeed, between the Pentagon and the Ministry of Defence in the United Kingdom, is absolutely tremendous.
Rush Limbaugh	Clinton can be held culpable for not doing enough when he was Commander-in-Chief to combat the terrorists who wound up attacking the World Trade Center and Pentagon.
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

"Pentagon" is generally used as a noun (proper) -- approximately 55.95% of the time. "Pentagon" is used about 84 times out of a sample of 100 million words spoken or written in English. Its rank is based on over 700,000 words used in the English language. Some parts-of-speech are not covered due to the samples used by the British National Corpus. (note: percents less than one-hundredth of one percent have been omitted)

Parts of Speech	Percent	Usage per 100 Million Words	Rank in English
Noun (proper)	55.95%	47	49,740
Noun (singular)	44.05%	37	56,631
Total	100.00%	84	N/A

1. Pentagon, DC
Zip Code(s): 20301
Country: USA

Top

Expressions: Pentagon

Expressions using "Pentagon": regular pentagon ♦ the pentagon. Additional references.
Hyphenated Usage
	Beginning with "Pentagon": pentagon-road.
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

Top

Frequency of Internet Keywords: Pentagon

The following statistics estimate the number of searches per day across the major English-language search engines as identified by various trade publications. Hyperlinks lead to commercial use of the expression at Amazon.com.

Expression	Frequency per Day	Expression	Frequency per Day
pentagon	1,683	pentagon memorial	23
pentagon federal credit union	1,572	pentagon attack	22
pentagon city mall	323	the pentagon war	20
clarke pentagon spokeswoman victoria	185	9 11 pentagon	18
pentagon credit union	165	agency force pentagon protection	17
pentagon city	153	pentagon building	16
pentagon papers	117	pentagon photo	15
pentagon federal	104	inside the pentagon	15
the fashion center at pentagon city	85	job pentagon	15
pentagon row	82	best western pentagon	14
fcu pentagon	67	area pentagon	13
pentagon picture	53	pentagon history	13
pentagon shape	42	pentagon map	13
pentagon federal credit	40	pentagon pin	12
tour the pentagon	39	sheraton pentagon south	12
pentagon mall	33	5 pentagon side	11
ritz carlton pentagon city	32	pentagon fed credit union	11
pentagon police	31	city pentagon shopping	11
car pentagon sales	26	gift pentagon shop	10
pentagon address	25	us pentagon	10
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

Top

Modern Translations: Pentagon

Language		Translations for "Pentagon"; alternative meanings/domain in parentheses.
Albanian		pesëkëndësh (pentagonal, pentangular), pentagoni. (various references)

Arabic		‏وزارة الدفاع الأمريكية, ‏المخمس, ‏البنتاغون. (various references)

Bulgarian		петоъгълник. (various references)

Chinese		�"�'大厦, �"�' . (various references)

Czech		pentagon, pìtiúhelník. (various references)

Farsi		پنج پهلو, پنج گوشه (Pentangle), پنج ضلعی , پنج بر. (various references)

Finnish		viisikulmio. (various references)

French		pentagone, pentagonal (pentagonal, pentagonal prism, pentaprism). (various references)

German		pentagon, fünfeck. (various references)

Greek		πεντάγωνο. (various references)

Hebrew		מחומש (fivefold, pentacle). (various references)

Hungarian		pentagon, amerikai egyesült államok hadügyminisztériuma, ötszög. (various references)

Indonesian		segi lima. (various references)

Italian		pentagono. (various references)

Japanese Kanji		�"辺形 , �"�'形 , �"稜� � (5-sided fort), ペンキ塗り立て (P.E.N. club, pen pal, pen tablet, pencil stripe, pendant, pending, pen-friend, penguin, penholder, penholder grip, pen-name, Pennsylvania, Penrose, pension, pentathlon, penthouse, pen-touch, pliers, thoughts, Wet Paint). (various references)

Japanese Katakana		ペンタゴン , �"かくけい, �"かっけい, �"りょうほ (5-sided fort), �"へ�"けい. (various references)

Manx		queig-lhiatteean. (various references)

Pig Latin		entagonpay

Portuguese		período de cinco anos (lusty). (various references)

Romanian		pentagon, ministerul de rãzboi al s.u.a.. (various references)

Russian		пентагон. (various references)

Serbo-Croatian		petougaonik, pentagon. (various references)

Spanish		pentágono. (various references)

Swedish		femhörning. (various references)

Turkish		pentagon, beşgen, amerika savunma bakanlığı. (various references)

Ukranian		п'ятикутник, пентагон. (various references)

Welsh		pumongl. (various references)
Source: compiled by the editor from various translation references.

Top

Ancestral Language Translations: Pentagon

Language	Period	Translations
Late Latin	300-700	pentagonum. (various references)
Source: compiled by the editor from various references.

Top

Derivations & Misspellings: Pentagon

Derivations
	Words beginning with "Pentagon": pentagonal, pentagonally, pentagonals, pentagons. (additional references)
Misspellings
	"Pentagon" is suggested in spellcheckers for the following: panagon, pantagon, patagon, penagon, Penaton, pendejo, pentacom, Pentacon, pentagone, Penteon, pention, petagon, Rentafone. (additional references)
Source: compiled by the editor, based on several corpora (additional references).

Top

Rhyming with "Pentagon"

# of Phoneme Matches	Pronunciation	Word(s) rhyming with "Pentagon" (pronounced pe"ntigÄ'n or pe"nigÄ'n)
4	-i g Ä' n	polygon.
3	-g Ä' n	argon, hexagon, Hogan, octagon, paragon.
4	-i g Ä' n	polygon.
3	-g Ä' n	argon, hexagon, Hogan, octagon, paragon.
Source: compiled by the editor (additional references); see credits.

Top

Anagrams: Pentagon

Scrabble® Enable2K-Verified Anagrams
	Words within the letters "a-e-g-n-n-o-p-t"
	-1 letter: negaton, tonnage.
	-2 letters: gannet, nonage, pangen, penang, ponent, potage, teopan.
	-3 letters: agent, agone, anent, atone, genoa, netop, nonet, oaten, paeon, panne, panto, paten, pengo, penna, tango, tenon, togae, tonga, tonne.
	-4 letters: aeon, agon, anon, ante, atop, etna, gaen, gane, gape, gate, gent, geta, gnat, goat, gone, nape, neap, neat, neon, nona, none, nope, nota.
	Words containing the letters "a-e-g-n-n-o-p-t"
	+1 letter: pentagons.
	+2 letters: pentagonal.
	+3 letters: nonpregnant, pentagonals, personating, postweaning.
	+4 letters: compensating, copartnering, impregnation, nonoperating, overplanting, pentagonally, pigmentation, potentiating, reappointing.
	+5 letters: anthropogenic, contemplating, impersonating, impregnations, interpolating, nonpathogenic, peregrination, pigmentations, precautioning, predominating, prenominating.
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. SCRABBLE® is a registered trademark. All intellectual property rights in and to the game are owned in the U.S.A and Canada by Hasbro Inc., and throughout the rest of the world by J.W. Spear & Sons Limited of Maidenhead, Berkshire, England, a subsidiary of Mattel Inc. Mattel and Spear are not affiliated with Hasbro.